Gwyneth Paltrow: ‘I’ve Earned Everything Myself’

In a wide-ranging interview with Harper’s Bazaar U.K., Gwyneth Paltrow told the magazine that her parents, Bruce Paltrow and Blythe Danner, instilled a strong work ethic in her and that she has “earned everything” she currently has.

“My father was totally self-made,” Paltrow told Harper’s. “I grew up with the benefit of a great education and a beautiful house, but my father always said, ‘ The day you leave, that’s it. You’re not getting anything,’ and he stuck to it. He was so hardcore about me making my own way… And it does give you a such a good sense of your capabilities.”

“I’ve earned everything myself, and I’ve never taken any money from anyone,” Paltrow added. “My father really pounded that into me, so I got the message.”

While Paltrow is certainly a hard worker, having appeared in several blockbuster film franchises while starting her own online lifestyle empire, E! Online points out that Paltrow got her first acting gig in a TV film directed by her father, 1989’s High. Harper’s also notes that Paltrow attended an elite Upper East Side school after moving to New York when she was 11 years old.

“I just wanted to do what my mother did,” Paltrow explained of her acting career. “I grew up watching her in rehearsals and struggling with lines and weeping with joy after a standing ovation. The camaraderie of the cast appealed to me so much – and it didn’t have to be on an Oscar-winning movie.”

Paltrow also weighed in on her critics in the media, telling the magazine she can’t understand why women gang up on certain public figures, especially other women.

“Women really need to examine why they’re so vitriolic to other women; why they want to twist words, why they want to read about someone else in a negative light and why that feels good to them… But I also know a huge tribe of women who are loving and supportive of other women, in ways that are completely transformative.”

Paltrow also reflected on her marriage to Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, and expressed a tinge of regret when talking of their separation.

“We’ve made a lot of mistakes, and we’ve had good days and bad days, but I have to say, I’m proud of us for working through so much stuff together – and not blaming and shaming. Of course, there are times when I think it would have been better if we had stayed married, which is always what your children want. But we have been able to solidify this friendship, so that we’re really close.”

Read the rest of the interview in Harper’s Bazaar here.